Effect of Nicotine Dependence on Cognition and Quality of Life in Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of nicotine dependence oncognition and quality of life in patients suffering from schizophrenia. The research was carried out to see ifthere is any significant difference between the cognition and quality of life among patients withschizophrenia having nicotine dependence in comparison to the no nicotine consumption group.Methodology: This study was carried out using the survey method. There were total 69 participants, allwere males and the age ranged from 20 to 50 years. The participants were the outpatients visiting thegovernment hospitals in Mumbai for their follow-ups to the psychiatrists. The data was collected from theparticipants after their consent was received. The screening for severity was done and only patients ratedwith moderate disturbances on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were considered forfurther administration of tests. The two scales Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCA) andWHOQOL-Bref (Hindi) were used for measuring cognition and quality of life respectively. The obtainedscores were analyzed using two simple independent samples t-test.Results: The results showed significant difference between the scores of cognition and quality of life amongstthe two groups. The study was found to be in line with the previous researches. The results indicated thatcognition was significantly higher in the nicotine dependent group whereas the psychological domain ofquality of life was significantly higher for the no nicotine consumption group.Conclusion: The findings indicate the group of patients with schizophrenia having nicotine dependence wasfound to have significantly higher cognition but lower perceived quality of life in psychological domain,whereas the other group of patients who did not consume nicotine showed significantly higher perceivedquality of life but lower cognitive functioning. Overall the obtained statistical analysis revealed significantdifference between the cognition and quality of life amongst nicotine dependent group and no nicotineconsumption group.